Under The Influence is a band which consists of Jason Hayden, Shane Hayden, Matt Harrison, Randy Koblinski (Hitman), and Randy Kruse (Roc). The band started in January of 1998, and has been through four singers and two rhythm guitarists since then. Their popularity is growing with their latest singer Roc.

    Back in January of 1998, Jason introduced our family to his new friend from school, Randy James. Randy came over to our house to jam with Jason.  The two guys started talking about starting a band together. Shane heard them talking about this and was excited. He remembered how he and his friends would talk about doing the same thing. One day when Jason and Randy were jamming down in the basement, Shane decided that he would join them. He tried to sing, but that didn't go any where. So he scrounged around the basement and found an old five gallon bucket and two legs from a TV table. Shane banged on his bucket, Jason and Randy played through poor quality amps, but they called themselves a band. Shortly after that Shane got a real drum set, Randy switched to bass, and the three guys, now called "Bend", began playing together as a real band.
The three piece played together for a while, until one day in the summer... While Jason was gone having his senior pictures taken, I (Gina Hayden) was left alone at home. Well I was surprised to see someone on a motorcycle pull into our driveway. When he came to the door I recognized him as one of Shane's old friends, but I wasn't sure who. The strange thing to me was, he asked for Jason instead of Shane. Long story short... it turned out to be Randy Koblinski and he joined the band not long after that.

    So now the band had changed. Randy Koblinski, or Hitman, became the bassist, and Randy James, now called Junior, went back to rhythm and stepped up to the mike. The band was now called Under The Influence.

    Junior didn't want to sing full time, so the search for their front man had begun. Friend of the family, Matt Harrison had temporarily stepped in for a very short time until they met Willis Jensen. Will brought the band a different sound, blending their heavy metal with his deep throated growl and rapping ability. This sound was great and started to draw a small crowd.
This lasted for a couple years. But sadly, this was about to change. January 2000 came along and Junior surprised everyone by quitting the band. They were very upset, and thought the band was over. But they realized that they were better off without him. Two months later, on March 11th,  the band played their first gig without Junior at The Eastsider Bar. this brought a new following.
    The guys were growing tired of Will as their front man, plus he was causing other problems for the band, so Will was fired from the band.

    This change didn't last long at all. December of 2000, Matt Harrison joined the band as the new rhythm guitarist. But They still needed a front man. They didn't need to look any farther than the family. At a family Christmas party, Shane and Jason were talking to our cousin Julie's husband Randy Kruse. They told him that they were looking for a new front man for their band, and Randy told them he was looking for a band to play in. So shortly after Christmas Randy, or Roc, agreed to join the band.  So now the band was complete! (Again) It only took almost three years for them to get the lineup right.

Recent band history

Saturday September 21st 2002:
    Our cousin Lisa got married to Pete Tinker. Later on that night the band played at their reception. * This, unknown at the time, would be their last performance as a band. The performance almost didn't happen due to technical problems.
    * After this performance, Roc stopped showing up for practice, leaving the rest of the band to assume that he quit.

*Tuesday October 22nd 2002:
    It had been a few weeks since the whole band was together. Shane, Hitman, and Matt (apparently) got together before, what was supposed to be, practice and decided the band should break up. The three of them came over and gave Jason the news.
    * This was just before my Halloween party. To make matters worse, Hitman, Matt, Jason, and my dad (on drums) started jamming songs that U.T.I. did. Our friend Tim took over the mic. Because of this I was unable to enjoy my party as much as I should have.
See pictures

Saturday November 16th 2002:
    It was the day after my 19th birthday. *Heather had an idea to throw me a surprise party. The band got together one last time for a special performance just for me. Roc even came up with a special version of 18, turning it into 19.
    * The biggest surprise for me was Roc. I seriously thought I was seeing things when I saw him. It took me a minute to walk up to give him a hug, because I had to make sure he was really there.
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january 28, 2004:
Roc and Julie had a baby boy named Hayden Bradley Kruse.
See pictures.

August 26, 2004:
Shane and Mandy's daughter Corinne Jennifer Hayden was born. Her original due date was supposed to be October 19th.  She's still in the hospital, but she's doing great. Should be out of the hospital soon.
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